Air-ship.



No. "797,154. PATENTED AUG. 15,, 1905 J. SPIEK AIR SHIP,

APPLICATION IILBD ATIG. 15, 1904.

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PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905.

J. SPIES.

AIR SHIP.

nrmommn FILED AUG.15, 1904.

3 SHBETS-SEEET 2.

No. 797,154. I PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905. J, SPIESfl AIR SHIP.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG.15, 1004.

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%pecification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1905.

Application filed August 15, 1904. Serial No. 220,851.

To (all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN Srms, a citizen of the United States, residingat Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements inAir-Ships; and 1 do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdcscription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in airships, and more particularlyto the one set forth in Patent No. 688,135, granted to me December 3,1901.

The object of my present invention is to improve and simplify theconstruction and operation of the Wings of an air-ship, and therebyrender the machine more powerful and efficient.

"With the above and other objects in view the invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement ofparts, as will be more fully described, and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the accompanyingdrawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improvedair-ship. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a verticaltransverse sectional view. Fig. 1 is a detail view, on an enlargedscale, of one of the wing-frames, the feathers or blades being removed.Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4;. Fig.6 is a view of the under side of one of the feathers or blades of thewings. Fig. 7 is a detail longitudinal section taken on the line 7 7 ofFig. 6. Fig. 8 is a transverse section taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings by numeral, 1 and 2 denote lower and uppersections of a vertisally-disposed rectangular frame, and 3 ahorizontally-disposed frame secured upon the upper portion of the lowersection 1. Upon the ends of the upper section 2 and the ends of theframe 3 are mounted balloon sections 4: and 5, and upon the frame 3 ismounted a rudder 29 and suitable operating means 32. The upper section 2of the frame has journaled in its upper ends and upon opposite sidesrockshafts 9, upon which oscillatory wings 11 are secured. Said wings 11are rocked or oscillated by providing upon them pitman connections 50,to which the upper ends of pitman-rods .17 are pivotally connected. Thelower ends of said rods 17, which are adjusted by means of a turnbucklelocated at the centers, are secured to eccentric-straps which surroundeccentrics 18, secured upon a transverse shaft 19, journalcd in thelower portion of the section 1 of the frame. Upon said shaft 19 is asprocket-wheel 20, which is connected by a sprocket-chain 21 to asimilar sprocket-wheel 22 upon a cranleshaft 23, upon the cranks 24 ofwhich are provided pedals by means of which the shaft may be rotated byan operator who sits upon a seat 25, mounted above and in rear of saidsprocket-gearing.

The above-mentioned parts are shown and described in my patentpreviouslyreferred to, and reference may be had thereto for a more extendedexplanation.

Each of the wings 11 comprises in its construction a rectangular frame51, constructed, preferably, of metal tubing and consisting oflongitudinal tubes 52 53, connected by crosstubes 54, in which latter,adjacent to the tube are formed bearings 55, through which therock-shaft 9 extends. The pitman connections 50 are secured to the tubes53, so that when the connecting-rods 17 are reciprocated the frames 51will oscillate simultaneously in a vertical plane.

Pivoted, as shown at 56, upon one of the cross-tubes 54. is alongitudinal oscillatory feather-carrying frame 57, which isconstructed, preferably,of angle metahas shown. Each of said frames 57consists of an angle-steel rim 58, curved at both ends and connected bya strip of metal 59. @aid strip 59 and the rim 58 are connected andbraced by crossstrips 60, as clearly shown in Fig. at of the drawings.The pivot 56 for said frame 57 is disposed eccentrically-that is, it islocated nearer to its rear end-and it is so disposed that the frame 57swings in a plane parallel to the plane of the frame 51.

Upon the frame 57 is a series of featherholders 61, which are pivotedintermediate their ends to oscillate upon said frame. Said holderspreferably consist of metal tubing provided upon one side withpivot-studs 62, which project through openings formed in the strip 59and are secured therein by a key or other suitable fastening means, asclearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The inner ends of said tubularholders have a limited sliding movement in slots 63, formed in thestraight portion of the rim 58, and the outer ends of said tubularholders are provided with clamps or couplings 64, in which the ribs 65of feathers 66 are secured. Each of said feathers, as clearly shown inFigs. 6, 7, and

8 of the drawings, comprises the rib or rod 65, which is tubular incross-section and consists of successively reduced sections, as shown.Upon said sections at suitable points are clamps 67, which carry pivots68. Secured upon said pivots by means of pivotpins 69 are joints 70,which consist of U- shaped metal plates. The arms of said plates,through which the pivots 69 pass, are formed with stops 71 and 72, whichare adapted to engage the clamping-rings 6'7 and limit the oscillationof the joint or plate '70 upon the clamp, the stop 71 limiting theupward movement of one end of the plate, as shown in full lines in Fig.8, the dotted lines indicating the reverse position, and a stop 72limiting the downward movement of said ends, as shown by the dottedlines in said figure. Upon each of the joints or plates 70 is secured atransversely-extending strip of bamboo or other like material 73, andconnecting said strips 7 3 and disposed upon the rib 65 is alongitudinally-extending strip 74. The ends of the strips 73 and 74: areconnected by a wire or the like 7 5, and upon the frame formed by saidstrips and wire is secured a cover of silk or other like fabric. It willbe seen that oving to the mounting of the feather proper upon its rib 65it will drop to the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 8 when the wingis elevated or moved upwardly to permit air to pass downwardly betweenthe feathers, so that little resistance is ofiered to the upstroke ofthe wing, and that when the wings move downwardly the resistance ofieredby the air upon the under side of the feathers will cause them to swingto the full-line position shown in Fig. 8, so that they will overlap andpresent an unbroken surface to the air upon the clownstroke of the wing.

The operation of the wings is as follows: hen the connecting-rods 17 arereciprocated, the frames 51 will be oscillated in a vertical plane upontheir rock-shafts 9, together with the frames 57, holders 61, andfeathers 66, carried by said frames 51. Upon the downstroke of the wingsthe frames 57 will swing and feathering-blades or feathers mountedoutwardly, owing to their eccentric pivotal connection and the shape ofthe wing proper, the feathers 66 of which decrease in size from thefront to the rear end of the wing, thereby throwing the greater area ofthe wing to the front. At the same time the feather-holders 61 willoscillate upon their pivots, and this movement of the feathers, togetherwith their swinging movement, caused by the swingin of the frame 57,will tend to propel the ship upwardly and forwardly. Upon the upstrokeof the wings the blades 66 will swing axially or feather to offer littleresistance to the stroke of the wing, and the holders 61 and also theframes 57 will swing inwardly.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the inven 1. Anair-ship having feathered wings and.

supporting and operating means to cause said wings to oscillate verticall y and longitudinally and the feathers on said wings to oscillateaxially and longitudinally, substantially as described.

2. In an air-ship the combination of a frame, a wing-frame mounted tooscillate thereon and a feather-carrying frame mounted to oscillate uponsaid wing-frame at right angles to the plane of oscillation of thelatter, substantially as described.

3. In an air-ship the combination of a frame, a wing-frame mounted tooscillate thereon, a feather-carrying frame mounted to oscillate uponsaid wing-frame, and feathers or blades mounted upon saidfeather-carrying frame to oscillate axially, substantially as described.

a. In an air-ship the combination of a frame, a wing-frame mounted tooscillate thereon, a feather-carrying frame mounted to oscillate uponsaid wing-frame and feathers or blades mounted upon saidfeather-carrying frame to oscillate in a plane parallel therewith,substantially as described.

5. In an air-ship the combination of a frame, a wing-frame mounted tooscillate thereon, a feather-carrying frame mounted to oscillate uponsaid wing-frame and feathers or blades mounted upon saidfeather-carrying frame to oscillate axiall, and in a plane parallel tosaid feather-carrying frame, substantially as de scribed.

6. In an air-ship the combination of a main frame,vertically-oscillatory frames mounted thereon, horizontally oscillatoryframes mounted upon said vertical oscillatory frames,

upon said horizon tally-oscillatory frames, substantially as described.

T. In an air-ship the combination of a main frame, verticallyoscillatoryframes mounted thereon, horizontally-oscillatory frames mounted uponsaid vertical oscillatory frames and axially-swinging feathers or bladesmounted to oscillate upon said horiZontally-oscillatory frames,substantially as described.

8. In an air-ship,amainframe,au oscillatory wing-frame mounted thereon,and a feather-- carrying frame pivoted eccentrically upon saidwing-frame to swing in a plane parallel.

to the plane of said wing-frame, substantially as described.

9. In. an air-ship, a frame, a verticallyswingmg frame mounted thereon,a horizontally-oscillating frame upon said swinging frame, andfeather-holders pivotally mounted intermediate their ends upon saidoscillatory frame, one of the ends of each of said holders having alimited sliding movement in said oscillatory frame and the opposite endof each of said holders having a feather or blade, substantially asdescribed.

10. In an air-ship, the combination of an oscillatory Wing'frame,oscillatory featherholders mounted thereon and having a limited lateralmovement and axiallyswinging feathers carried by said holderssubstantially as described.

11. In an air-ship, the combination of an oscillatory Wing havingfeathers comprising ribs, pivots secured upon said ribs, joints uponsaid pivots formed With stops to limit their swinging movement andcoverings or feathers proper carried by said joints, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof l. have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

JOHN SPI'ES. Vl/itnesses:

PHILIP ENGELKE, (Inns. -W. l l'Lnrr'r.

